Saturday, April 03, 2010

Dirgantara, GMF renew maintenance deal

The new agreement was signed Thursday by Dirgantara president director Budi Santoso and GMF president director and CEO Richard Budihadianto, in Bandung.

Both companies announced the new agreement in a joint media statement sent Thursday.

Replacing a 2003 agreement, the new agreement will be valid for three years and covers general maintenance, parts and components, tools and equipment, testing and laboratory services and engineering services.

The new agreement also deals with marketing, repairs, modifications, aircraft, components and systems overhaul, spare parts procurement, manufacturing services, IT, training and the utilization of facilities and other capabilities.

Richard said local repairs and overhaul firms only absorbed around 30 percent of the total domestic aircraft maintenance spending - worth US$750 million in 2009. He expected this market to expand to around $2 billion by 2014.

Budi said Dirgantara had plenty of facilities that could be used by GMF, including a surface treatment facility certified by the National Aerospace and Defense Contractor Program, which could reduce GMF's dependence on foreign parties. - JP

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

GMF receives EASA rating for Airbus A320

The new agreement was signed Thursday by Dirgantara president director Budi Santoso and GMF president director and CEO Richard Budihadianto, in Bandung.

Both companies announced the new agreement in a joint media statement sent Thursday.

Replacing a 2003 agreement, the new agreement will be valid for three years and covers general maintenance, parts and components, tools and equipment, testing and laboratory services and engineering services.

The new agreement also deals with marketing, repairs, modifications, aircraft, components and systems overhaul, spare parts procurement, manufacturing services, IT, training and the utilization of facilities and other capabilities.

Richard said local repairs and overhaul firms only absorbed around 30 percent of the total domestic aircraft maintenance spending - worth US$750 million in 2009. He expected this market to expand to around $2 billion by 2014.

Budi said Dirgantara had plenty of facilities that could be used by GMF, including a surface treatment facility certified by the National Aerospace and Defense Contractor Program, which could reduce GMF's dependence on foreign parties. — JP

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Emirates to fly twice daily from Jakarta

Nani Afrida and Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based airline Emirates is set to launch twice daily flights from Jakarta to Dubai starting March 1.

"The launch of the double daily flight between Jakarta and Dubai is Emirates' response to increasing demand from both business and leisure travelers," Emirates' Indonesia country manager Mohamed Al Nahari said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Al Nahari said in 2009 the airlines flew the route 11 times a week.

He said the additional flights would increase capacity by more than 2,600 seats per week, to bring weekly capacity up to 12,000 seats.

Using Boeing the 777 jetliner, Emirates has 42 business-class seats and 385 to 400 economy-class seats depending on aircraft type.

The airline, a fully owned subsidiary of privately run Lion Air, started to serve the route linking Bandung in West Java with Yogyakarta on Friday, it said in a press statement issued Saturday.

During the opening ceremony at the Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, Wings Air also launched another route linking Yogyakarta with Surabaya in East Java.

Two other routes, linking Surabaya with Semarang in Central Java and Denpasar in Bali, werealso launched although these two routes started operation on Thursday.

Wings Air flight IW 1811 leaves Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta at 12:05 P.M. and arrives in Husein Sastranegara Airport at 1:05 P.M. The aircraft returns to Yogyakarta as flight IW 1812 departing at 1:30 P.M. and arriving at 2:30 P.M.

The Bandung-Yogyakarta route has a one-way airfare of Rp 290,000 (US$31.16), said Wings Air director of general affairs Edward Sirait.

He said starting Saturday the aircraft with a capacity of 72 passengers would have a daily route of Semarang-Surabaya-Denpasar-Surabaya-Yogyakarta-Bandung-Yogyakarta-Surabaya- Denpasar-Surabaya-Semarang.

Edward was confident that the use of the Bandung-Yogyakarta sector would grow significantly.

“Both cities are known not only as business cities but also student cities and destinations for culinary tourism,” Edward told Antara news agency.

As for new routes, Edward said the airlines planned to link Bali with Labuan Bajo and Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara and Bima in West Nusa Tenggara.

Wings Air also plans to link the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan with Sibolga, in North Sumatra, and Lhokseumawe in Aceh.

Other new routes would include linking Medan with the secondary town of Gunungsitoli and Nias as well as Meulaboh in Aceh, and the Padang-Bengkulu route.